PAGAN 

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MARAH ELLIS RYAN 




Class B L5V Q 

Book fft % 



Copyright N°_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



PAGAN PRAYERS 

COLLECTED BY 

MARAH ELLIS RYAN (w«rVn) 



AUTHOR OF 

FOR THE SOUL OF RAFAEL, INDIAN 
LOVE LETTERS, ETC. 




CHICAGO 

A. C. McCLURG & CO. 

1913 






^ 



Copyright 

A. C. McCLURG & CO. 

1913 



Published April, 1913 



The Ralph Fletcher Seymour Company 
Fine Arts Building, Chicago 



©CI.A3470U9 

A-0/ 



PREFACE 

rmrnm 




THIS little book of thoughts big, and 
thoughts childish, goes to the reader 
with the hope that it bears the little known 
fact that Ancient America had a written 
aboriginal literature — much of which was 
beautiful. 

The Apache and the Navajo prayers are 
oral, transmitted from priest to priest 
through the centuries; but the Mexican are 
fragments, rescued from a wide literature by 
the learned and courageous Franciscan, 
Bernardino de Sahagun, in the Seventeenth 
century. 

The first archbishop of Mexico took 
credit to himself for the burning, in one 
town, of 60,000 Mexican books and manu- 
scripts on history, religion, law, medicine, 
astrology, genealogy and poetry. It was 
his part of the approved battle against the 
false gods. For four centuries he has had 
ardent imitators — which accounts for much. 



The masked, dramatized prayers of the 
Indians of the Southwest of today, suggested 
to the compiler a key to ancient Mexican 
rituals where god or goddess replies directly 
to priest or suppliant. This is the one 
special liberty taken with the records — the 
deity or priest is placed as the Indian places 
him, in the temple of feast or sacrifice; 
while the Spanish records gave only the 
spoken words with little to indicate the 
ritual or the speakers. 

The Peruvian had reached a higher 
spiritual and philosophic stage of culture 
before his annihilation, though at loss of the 
spontaneous poetic imagery, wistful or 
colorful, of the Mexican. 

Such as they are, these prayers reflect the 
culture of both extinct and living primitive 
peoples of the world we call the New, and 
they go out for judgment side by side with 
the better known rituals of the world we call 
the Old. 

M. E. R. 



CONTENTS 

Preface 

On the Writing of a Prayer of 
Praise 

(Mexican) 
To the Creative God .... 

(Accadian) 
Apache Prayer 

(American) 
Navajo Liturgy 

(American) 
Address to Supreme Deity 

(Assyrian) 
A Prayer for the Dying . 

(Assyrian) 
Babylonian Prayer for Health . 
Prayer to the Sun 

(Chaldean) 
Magical Incantation .... 

(Chaldean) 

Chinese Liturgy 

Chinese Prayer 

Prayer of Transformation into a 
Lotus 

(Egyptian) 
A Prayer for Preservation of 
the Heart 

(Egyptian) 
Hymn to Amun-ra 

(Egyptian) 
Prayer of the Sower .... 

(Finnish) 
Hymn to Panu 

(Finnish) 



The Salutation of the Dawn 

{Hindu) 
Prayer to Buddha . 

{Hindu) 
Hymn to Agni 

{Hindu) 
Prayer of the Gambler 

{Hindu) 
Prayer to Kami-Dana . 

{Japanese) 
Prayer of the Singer . 

{Mexican) 
Hymn of Tla-Loc 

{Mexican) 
Hymn to the All-Mother 

{Mexican) 
Hymn of the God of Flowers 

{Mexican) 
Prayerto the Mexican God of Fire 

{Mexican) 
The Prayer of the Maize . 

{Mexican) 
Hymn to Cihua-Coatl .... 

{Mexican) 
Prayer to the God of Thieves 

{South Pacific Island) 
Invocation to Ormazd .... 

{Persian) 
Mohammedan Prayer of Adoration 

{Persian) 
An Inca's Death Prayer . 

{Peruvian) 
Hymn to the Unknown God 

{Peruvian) 
Bibliography 



PAG A N PRAYERS 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



ON THE WRITING OF A 
PRAYER OF PRAISE 

(Mexican) 



(This introduction to a volume of annals, written 
centuries ago by an unknown poet of ancient America, 
gives glimpse of the beauty of the native book craft, 
and the sacredness to them, of literature) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 




LIKE a red-winged heron of won- 
der, rising in flight, it shone. 

The mist and the glow of the rain- 
bow, it is there ! 

The harmony is as the tinkling tur- 
quoise bells on the silver drum: 
thus was a book of annals written 
and painted in colors. 

I unwind my song! 

I unwind my song like a string of 
jewels, all precious. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



TO THE CREATIVE GOD 

{Accadian) 



(The Accadian was already a dead language in the 
Seventeenth Century, B. C.) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



OLORD of Charms, Illustrious! 
who gives 
Life to the Dead, the Merciful who 

lives, 
And grants to hostile gods of Heaven 

return, 
To homage render, worship thee, and 

learn 
Obedience! 

Thou who didst create mankind 
In tenderness, thy love round us, oh 

wind! 
The Merciful, the God with whom 

is Life 
Establish us, O Lord, in darkest strife 
O never may thy truth forgotten be. 
May Accad's race forever worship 

thee! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
APACHE PRAYER 

{American) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



STENATLIHAN, You are good! 
I pray for a long life. 
I pray for your good looks. 
I pray for good breath. 
I pray for good speech. 

I pray for feet like yours to carry me 
through a long life. 

I pray for a life like yours. 

I walk with people, ahead of me all 
is well. 

I pray for people to smile as long as 
I live. 

I pray to live long. 

I pray, I say, for a long life to live 
with you where the good people are. 

I live in poverty. 

I wish the people there to speak of 
goodness and to talk to me. 

I wish you to divide yourgood things 
with me, as a brother. 

Ahead of me is goodness, lead me on. 

(Stenatlihan is the supreme sky goddess) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



NAVAJO LITURGY 

(American) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



OH YOU! 
Who dwell in the house made 
of the Dawn. 
In the home of evening twilight. 
In the house made of dark cloud, 
In the house made of the he rains, 
In the house made of the dark mist, 
In the house made of the she rain, 
In the house made of peace; 

Where the dark mist curtains the 
door 

The path to which is on the rainbow, 

Where the zig-zag lightning on high 

it stands 
Male deity divine ! 
With your moccasins of dark cloud, 

come to us ! 

With your headdress of dark cloud, 
come to us ! 

With clouds dark, your mind en- 
veloping, come to us! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



NAVAJO LITURGY 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



You above thunder dark, high-fly- 
ing, come to us ! 

With cloud having shape at your 
feet, high-flying, come to us! 

With the dark cloud over your head 
made of far darkness, high-flying, 
come to us ! 

With the far darkness made of the he 
rain over your head, high-flying, 
come to us ! 

With your head over mist-dark made 
of far darkness, high-flying, come 
to us! 

With the she rain over your head, 
made of far darkness, high-flying, 
come to us! 

With your head over zig-zag light- 
ning far out-flung, high-flying, 
come to us! 

With your head over far hanging 
rainbow, high-flying, come to us! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



NAVAJO LITURGY 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



With clouds dark on the ends of 

your wings, made of far darkness, 

high-flying, come to us. 
With the far darkness made of the 

he rain on the ends of your wings, 

high-flying, come to us ! 
With the dark mist on the ends of 

your wings, made of far darkness, 

high-flying, come to us ! 
With the far darkness made of the 

she rain on the ends of your 

wings, high-flying, come to us! 
With zig-zag lightning flung out 

afar on the ends of your wings, 

high-flying, come to us ! 
With the rainbow hanging far on the 

ends of your wings, high-flying, 

come to us! 
With the near darkness made of 

dark cloud, of he rain, of dark 

mist, of she rain, high-flying, come 

to us! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



NAVAJO LITURGY 

{Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



In the earth darkness come to us! 

With these also the foam to float 
on the flowing water over the roots 
of the great corn, that I wish. 

Your sacrifice I have made, 

For you the smoke have I prepared. 

My feet for me restore, 

My body for me restore, 

My mind for me restore, 

My voice for me restore, 

This day your spell from me take 

out, 
This day your spell for me remove! 

Away from me you have taken it ! 
Far off from me it is taken ! 
Far off you have done it. 

In a way of beauty I recover, 
Happily my eyes regain their power, 
Happily for me the spell is taken off, 
Imperious to pain I walk, 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



NAVAJO LITURGY 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 


Feeling light within, I walk, 


Thus happily you accomplish your 


tasks. 


Happily the old men will regard you, 


Happily the children will regard you, 


Happily as they approach their 


homes they will regard you. 


Happily may their trails home be 


in the way of peace. 


Happily may all return! 


With beauty before me I walk. 


With beauty above me I walk. 


With beauty it is finished ! 


With beauty again it is finished ! 





PAGAN PRAYERS 
ADDRESS TO SUPREME DEITY 

{Assyrian) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



IN HEAVENS who is great? 
Thou alone art great ! 
On earth who is great? Thou alone 

art great! 
When thy voice resounds in heaven, 

the gods fall prostrate! 
When thy voice resounds on earth, 
the genii kiss the dust! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
A PRAYER FOR THE DYING 

{Assyrian) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



BIND the sick man to Heaven, 
for from Earth he is being 
torn away! 

Of the brave man who was so 
strong, his strength has departed. 

Of the righteous servant, the force 
does not return, 

In his bodily frame he lies danger- 
ously ill. 

But Ishtar, who in her dwelling, is 
grieved concerning him, descends 
from her mountain unvisited of 
men. 

To the door of the sick man she 
comes. 

The sick man listens! 

Who is there ? Who comes ? 

It is Ishtar, daughter of the Moon 
God! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



A PRAYER FOR THE DYING 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Like pure silver may his garment 

be shining white ! 
Like brass may he be radiant! 
To the Sun, greatest of the gods, 

may he ascend ! 
And may the Sun, greatest of the 

gods, receive his soul into his 

holy hands ! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



BABYLONIAN PRAYER FOR 
HEALTH 

(Exorcism of Spirits of Disease) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Tablet I 

THE noxious god, the noxious 
spirit of the neck, the neck- 
spirit of the desert, the neck-spirit 
of the mountains, the neck-spirit 
of the sea, the neck-spirit of the 
morass, the noxious spirit of the city, 
this noxious wind which seizes the 
body and the health of the body. 
Spirit of Heaven, remember! Spirit 
of Earth, remember! 

Tablet V 

He who makes an image which 
injures the man, an evil face, an evil 
eye, an evil mouth, an evil tongue, 
evil lips, an evil poison. 

Spirit of Heaven, remember! Spirit 
of Earth, remember! 

Tablet VI 
The cruel spirit, the strong spirit 
of the head, the head-spirit that 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



BABYLONIAN PRAYER FOR 
HEALTH 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



departs not, the head-spirit that goes 
not forth, the head-spirit that will 
not go, the noxious head spirit. 

Spirit of Heaven, remember! Spirit 
of Earth, remember ! 

Tablet VIII 

May Nin-cigal, the wife of 
Nin-a'su, turn her face toward an- 
other place; may the noxious spirit 
go forth and seize another. May 
the propitious spirit and the pro- 
pitious genii settle upon his body. 

Spirit of Heaven, remember! Spirit 
of Earth, remember! 

Tablet IX 

May Nebs, the great steward, the 
recliner supreme among the gods, 
like the god who has begotten him, 
seize upon his head; against his life 
may he not break forth. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



BABYLONIAN PRAYER FOR 
HEALTH 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Spirit of Heaven, remember! Spirit 
of Earth, remember! 

Tablet X 

On the sick man by the sacrifice 
of mercy may perfect health shine 
like bronze; may the Sun-god give 
this man life; may Merodach, the 
eldest son of the deep, give him 
strength, prosperity and health. 

Spirit of Heaven, remember! Spirit 
of Earth, remember! 



(Nin-cigal — The Goddess of the House of Death) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
PRAYER TO THE SUN 

{Chaldean) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



THE LORD has sent me; 
the great god Hea, has sent me. 

Thou, in thy course thou directest 
the human race 

Cast upon him a ray of peace, and 
let it cure his suffering. 

The man, son of his god, has laid 
before him his shortcomings and 
transgressions; his feet and hands 
are in pain, grievously defiled by 
disease. 

Sun, to the lifting up of my hands 
pay attention ; eat his food, receive 
the victim, give his god, for a 
support, to his hand! 

By his order let his shortcomings be 
pardoned! Let his transgressions 
be blotted out! 

May his troubles leave him! May 
he recover from his disease! 

Give back life to the King! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



PRAYER TO THE SUN 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Then, on the day that he revives, 
may thy sublimity envelop him! 

Direct the King who is in subjection 
to thee ! 

And me, the magician, thy humble 
servant, direct me! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



MAGICAL INCANTATION 

{Chaldean) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



I HAVE invoked thee, O Sun, in 
the midst of the high heavens. 

Thou art in the shadow of the cedar, 
and thy feet rest on the summits. 

The countries have called thee eager- 
ly, they have directed their looks 
towards thee, 

O Friend, thy brilliant light illumi- 
nates every land, overthrowing 
all that impedes thee, assemble 
the countries, for thou, O Sun, 
knowest their boundaries. 

Thou who annihilatest falsehood, 
who dissipated the evil influence 
of wonders, omens, sorceries, 
dreams, evil apparitions, who turn- 
est to a happy issue malicious 
designs, who annihilatest men and 
countries that devote themselves 
to fatal sorceries, I have taken 
refuge in thy presence. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



MAGICAL INCANTATION 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Do not allow those who make spells, 

and are hardened, to arise. 
Frighten their heart, 
Settle also, O Sun, light of the great 

gods 
Right into my marrow, O Lords of 

breath, that I may rejoice, even I. 
May the gods who created me take 

my hands! 
Direct the breath of my mouth! 
My hands direct them also, Lord, 

light of the legions of the heavens. 
Sun, O Judge ! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



CHINESE LITURGY 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



ONE in spirit, 
We invoke thee ! 
Hail, Amit-abha of the world ! 
O would that our merciful teacher, 

Sakya-muni, 
And our great Father Amit-abha 
Would now descend and be present 
with us. 

Would that the perfect compassion- 
ate heart would now draw near 

And receive our offerings. 

May the omnipotent and omnis- 
cient Holy Spirit 

Come to us while we recite these 
divine sentences. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



CHINESE PRAYER 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



I THE EMPEROR, have respect- 
fully prepared this paper to 
inform the spirit of the sun, the 
spirit of the moon, the spirits of 
the five planets, of the stars, of 
the clouds, of the four seas, of the 
great rivers, of the present year, 

That on the first of next month we 
shall reverently lead our officers 
and people to honor the great 
name of Shang-Ti. 

We inform you beforehand, O ye 
celestial and terrestrial spirits, and 
will trouble you on our behalf, 
to exert your spiritual power, and 
display your vigorous efficacy, 
communicating our poor desire to 
Shang-Ti, praying him to accept 
our worship, and be pleased with 
the new title which we shall 
reverently present to him. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



CHINESE PRAYER 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Thou, O Ti, didst open the way for 

the forces of matter to operate ; 
Thou, O Spirit, didst produce the 

beautiful light of the sun and 

moon, that all thy creatures might 

be happy. 
Thou hast vouchsafed to hear us, 

O Ti, for thou regardest us as thy 

children. 
I, thy child, dull and ignorant, can 

poorly express my feelings. 
Honorable is thy great name ! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



PRAYER OF TRANSFORMA- 
TION INTO A LOTUS 

{Egyptian) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



HAIL, thou lotus! Thou type 
of the god Nefer-Temu! 

I am the man that knoweth you, 
and I know your names among those 
of the gods, the lords of the under- 
world, and I am one of you. 

Grant ye that I may see the gods 
who are the divine guides in the 
underworld, and grant ye unto me 
a place in the underworld near unto 
the lords of Amentet. 

Let me arrive at a habitation in 
the land of Tchesert, and receive me, 
O all ye gods, in the presence of the 
lords of eternity! 

Grant that my soul may come 
forth whithersoever it pleaseth, and 
let it not be driven away from the 
presence of the great company of the 
gods! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



A PRAYER FOR PRESERVA- 
TION OF THE HEART 

(Egyptian) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



MY HEART, my mother; my 
heart, my mother! 
My heart of my existence upon 
earth! 

May naught stand up to oppose 
me in judgment; may there be no 
opposition to me in the presence of 
the sovereign princes; may no evil 
be wrought against me in the pres- 
ence of the gods; may there be no 
parting of thee from me in the 
presence of the great god, the lord 
of Amentet. 

Homage to thee, O thou heart of 
Osiris — khent — Amentet ! Homage to 
you, O my reins! Homage to you, 
O ye gods who dwell in the divine 
clouds, and who are exalted [or 
holy] by reason of your sceptres! 

Speak ye fair words for the Osiris 
Auf-ankh, and make ye him to 
prosper before Nehebka. And be- 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



A PRAYER FOR PRESERVA- 
TION OF THE HEART 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



hold, though I be joined to the earth, 
and am in the mighty innermost 
part of heaven, let me remain on the 
earth and not die in Amentet, and 
let me remain a khu therein for ever 
and ever! 

This prayer shall be recited over a 
basalt scarab, which shall be set in a gold 
setting, and it shall be placed inside the 
heart of the man (i. e., the dead) for 
whom the ceremonies of "opening the 
mouth" and of anointing with unguent 
have been performed. 

And there shall be recited by way of 
magical charm the words: 

"My heart, my mother! my heart, 
my mother! My heart of transfor- 
mations !" 



(Khu, a god of light) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



HYMN TO AMUN-RA 

{Egyptian) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



HAIL to thee, Amun-Ra, Lord of 
the thrones of the earth, the 
oldest existence, ancient of heaven, 
support of all things ; 

Chief of the gods, lord of truth; 
father of the gods, maker of men 
and beasts and herbs; maker of 
all things above and below; 

Deliverer of the sufferer and op- 
pressed, judging the poor; 

Lord of wisdom, lord of mercy; 
most loving, opener of every eye, 
source of joy, in whose goodness 
the gods rejoice, thou whose name 
is hidden. 

Thou art the one, maker of all that 
is, the one ; the only one ; maker of 
gods and men; giving food to all. 

Hail to thee, thou one with many 
heads; sleepless when all others 
sleep, adoration to thee. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



HYMN TO AMUN-RA 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Hail to thee from all creatures from 
every land, from the height of 
heaven, from the depth of the sea. 

The spirits thou hast made extol 
thee, saying, welcome to thee, 
father of the fathers of the gods; 
we worship thy spirit which is in 
us. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



PRAYER OF THE SOWER 

(Finnish) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



BLESSING to the seed I scatter, 
Where it falls upon the meadow, 
By the grace of Ukko mighty, 
Through the open finger spaces 
Of the hand that all things fashioned. 
Queen of meadow-land and pasture ! 
Bid the earth unlock her treasures. 
Bid the soil the young seed nourish, 
Never shall their teeming forces 
Never shall their strength prolific 
Fail to nourish and sustain us 
If the Daughters of Creation, 
They, the free and bounteous givers 
Still extend their gracious favor 
Offer still their strong protection. 
Rise, O Earth! from out thy 
slumbers 
Bid the soil unlock her treasures! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
HYMN TO PANU 

(Finnish) 



(Panu, God of fire, child of the Sun-mother) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



OPANU, 
Son of the Sun! 
Offspring thou of the dear day. 
Lift the fire up to the sky. 
In the middle of the golden ring, 
Within the rock of copper, 
Carry it as a child to its mother 
Into the lap of the ancient mother. 
Place the fire to shine by day, 
And to rest at night. 
Let it rise every morning ! 
Let it rest every evening ! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



THE SALUTATION OF THE 
DAWN 

{Hindu) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



LISTEN to the exhortation of 
the Dawn ! 
Look to this Day! For it is Life, 

The very Life of Life. 
In its brief course lie all the Varieties 
And Realities of your Existence; 

The Bliss of Growth, 

The Glory of Action, 

The Splendor of Beauty; 
For Yesterday is but a Dream, 
And To-morrow is only a Vision ; 

But To-day well lived 
Makes every Yesterday a Dream of 

Happiness, 
And every To-morrow a Vision of 

Hope. 
Look well therefore to this Day! 
Such is the Salutation of the Dawn. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
PRAYER TO BUDDHA 

{Hindu) 






PAGAN PRAYERS 



THOU in whom innumerable 
creatures believe! 
Thou, Buddha, Victor over the hosts 

of evil ! 
Thou, all-wise Being, come down to 

our world ! 
Made perfect and glorified by in- 
numerable by-gone revolutions ; 

always pitiful, always gracious 

toward all creatures ! 
Look down upon us; for the time 

has come to pour out blessings on 

all creatures. 
Be gracious to us from thy throne 

built in thy heavenly world. 
Thou art the eternal redemption of 

all creatures, therefore bow down 

to us with all thy unstained 

heavenly societies. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
HYMN TO AGNI 

{Hindu) 



(Agnl, god of fire in every form, worshipped in 
every manifestation — sun, lightning, earth, fire — 
also adored as the spark of life in all of growth, is here 
invoked as both the sacred flame on the altar, and the 
highest priest officiating) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



I IMPLORE Agni, the chief priest, 
the divine minister of the sacri- 
fice, the Hotri priest, the best giver 
of wealth. 

Agni, worthy to be implored by 
former poets and by new, may he 
bring the gods hither! 

Through Agni man gained wealth, 
satisfying even day by day, glorious 
wealth of vigorous kindred. 

Agni, the offering which thou en- 
circlest on all sides, that alone goes 
to the gods. 

Agni, the Hotri priest, the wise 
counsellor, the truthful, the most 
glorious, may he, the God, come 
with the gods! 

Whatever wealth thou, Agni, shalt 
bestow on the sacrificer, thine it will 
be, forsooth, Agni. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



HYMN TO AGNI 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



To thee, O Agni, we come day by 
day, bringing praise in mind, O 
Illuminator of Darkness ! 

To thee, the Lord of sacrifices, 
the bright Guarder of the Law, who 
art growing in thy own house. 

Thou then, O Agni, be gracious 
to us like as a father to his son ; stay 
with us for our welfare ! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
PRAYER OF THE GAMBLER 

(Hindu) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



THESE dice that have grown 
in the air on the great Vibhi- 
daka tree, drive me wild when they 
roll on the board! This Vibhidaka 
seems to me intoxicating like a 
draught of Soma that has grown on 
Mount Mugovat. 

When I think that I shall not play 
with them again, then am I left by 
my friends who go afar. But when 
the brown dice are thrown down and 
utter speech, then I rush to their 
rendezvous, like a love-sick maid. 

These dice hook, prick, undo, 
burn and inflame. After the .gift 
of childish playthings they ruin the 
winner; yet to the gambler they are 
covered with honey. 

They do not bend before the 
anger of the mighty, even the king 
bends down before them. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
PRAYER OF THE GAMBLER 

{Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Though having no hands, they 
resist him who has hands. These 
playing coals, though cold, when 
thrown on the board, burn the heart 
through and through ! 

Make other friends, O dice — have 
mercy on us! Do not bewitch us 
with powerful enchantment! May 
your wrath abate, and your enmity — 
let some one else be held in the 
power of the brown dice ! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



PRAYER TO KAMI-DANA 

{Japanese) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



REVERENTLY adoring the 
great god of the two palaces 
of Ise, 

and the gods of the branch 

temples and branch palaces, and 
Sohodo no kami, whom I have 
invited to the shrine set upon 
this divine altar, and to whom 
I offer praises day by day. 
I pray with awe that they will deign 
to correct the unwitting faults, 
which, heard and seen by them, 
I have committed, and blessing 
and favoring me according to the 
powers which they severally wield, 
cause me to follow the divine ex- 
ample and to perform good works 
in the Way. 



(The House God) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
PRAYER OF THE SINGER 

(Mexican) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



IN THE place of tears, I, the 
singer, watch my flowers, they 
enthrall my spirit as I walk alone 
with them — My spirit sad amid 
the flowers. 

In this spot where the herbage is as 
sweet ointment, and green as the 
turquoise and emerald, I dream 
of a song of beauty while the 
blossoms of beauty are in my 
hand! 

Let us rejoice now, O friends! O 
children ! For the life of the earth- 
born is not long upon earth. 

I now go forth in swiftness — to the 
sweet songs I go forth — to the 
flowers of fragrance, O friends! 
O children! 

O he! I sang aloud, O he! I 
rained song blossoms as I sped! 

Let us go forth to the four ways! 
I, the singer, shall find and bring 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



PRAYER OF THE SINGER 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



forth the flowers. Let us be glad 
while we live — hark to my song 
of joy! 

I, the poet, cry out a song for a place 
of joy — a radiant song which 
descends to the Underworld, and 
there turns and echoes back to 
you! 

I seek neither vestments or riches, 
O friends! O children! but a 
song for a place of joy !" 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



HYMN OF TLA-LOC 

(Mexican) 



(Tla-loc is the God of Storms. He dwells in Tlalo- 
can where the spirits of the elements toss the balls of 
thunder, and cast the reeds of lightning. This is a 
masked dramatized ceremony to the rain god) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Priests 

TO OUR land the god appears! 
His banner unfolds to the 
Four Ways and no one weeps !" 
Tla-loc 
"I, the god, have returned again! 
I have turned again to the place 
of abundance of sacrifices. West- 
ward, when the day grows old I 
am beheld as a god." 

High Priest 

"Thy work is that of a magician 
divine! Truly thou hast made 
thyself to be of our flesh. Thou 
hast made thyself, and who dare 
affront thee?" 

Tla-loc 

" Truly he who affronts me faces the 
dangers; My fathers took by the 
heads the tigers and serpents!" 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



HYMN OF TLA-LOC 

{Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Priests 
"In Tla-locan, the Place of the 
Divine, they play at ball! They 
cast the reeds !" 

High Priest to Devotees 
"Go forth! Go forth to where the 
clouds are spread — where the 
thick mist marks the cloudy house 
ofTla-loc!" 

Tla-loc 
"Go ye out to seek me! Seek for 
the voice I send forth as I rise — 
a terrible god — a cry on the 
winds !" 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
HYMN TO THE ALL-MOTHER 

(Mexican) 



(This goddess is Teteo-inan, the "Mother of Gods" 
— also known by another name meaning "Heart of the 
Earth." Her chief temple was on the spot selected by 
the early missionaries for the "Lady of Guadaloupe" 
to make her appearance, and the native shrine was 
razed to make way for the temple of the imported 
cult of Christendom) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



HAIL to our Mother who makes 
the yellow flowers to bloom — 
who scatters the seeds of the 
maguey as she comes from the 
Land Divine! 
Hail to our Mother who casts forth 
white flowers in abundance ! 

Hail to our Mother who shines in 
the thorn bush as a bright butter- 
fly! 

Ho ! She is our Mother — the woman 
god of the earth. In the desert 
she feeds the wild beasts, and 
gives them to live. 

Thus — thus you see her ever abun- 
dant in gifts to all flesh. 

And as you see the goddess of earth 
give to the beasts, so also she is 
giving to the green herbs and the 
fishes. 

Hail to our Mother who casts forth 
yellow flowers to the sun from the 
Land Divine! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



HYMN OF THE GOD OF 
FLOWERS 

(Mexican) 



(High Priest, masked as the god, chants) 

(Kin-teotl — God of maize) 

(Tla-loc — God of storms and the wide plains) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



O FRIENDS! The quetzal 
bird sings — it sings its song 

at midnight to Kin-teotl. 
The god now hears my song by night, 

he will hear my song as the night 

brings in the dawn. 
I send forth the priests to the house 

of Tla-loc. 
The priests to the house of Tla-loc 

do I send forth. 
I shall go forth to the plains. I 

shall join myself to them. I shall 

go where is Kin-teotl. I shall 

follow the trail to him. 
The priests go forth to the house of 

Tla-loc, to the home of the god 

of the plains! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



PRAYER TO THE MEXICAN 
GOD OF FIRE 



(Mexican) 



(A victim is sacrificed for rain in the temple of the 
Earth Fire — a crater of a volcano) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Victim 

IN THE Hall of Flame let me 
not put to shame my ancestors; 
decending there let me not put 
you to shame! 
"I fasten a rope to the sacred tree. 
I twist it in eight folds, that by 
it, I, a magician, may descend to 
the magical house/' 
Priests 
"Begin your song in the Hall of 
Flames! Begin your song in the 
Hall of Flames!" 

Devotees 

"Why does not the magician come 

forth? 
Why does he not rise up?" 

Priests 
"Let his subjects assist in the Hall 

of Flames! 

He appears! He appears! Let his 
subjects assist!" 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



PRAYER TO THE MEXICAN 
GOD OF FIRE 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



"Let his servants never cease the 
song of the Hall of Flames — 
let them rejoice greatly — let them 
dance wonderfully! 

(To the victim) 

Call ye for the Woman with Abun- 
dant Hair, whose care is the Mist 
and the Rain; call ye for Her!" 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



THE PRAYER OF THE MAIZE 

(Mexican) 



(This is a conventional ceremony where a high 
priest, masked, personates Kin-teotl, god of the maize. 
An altar priest chants of the loves and greatness of the 
gods, but with an earthly love in his heart for a vestal 
who personates the goddess of art in a similar ceremony 
at the adjacent temple of Cholula) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



T 



Priest 

(Placing flowers of the field on shrine) 

HE FLOWER in my heart 
blossoms, sweetness it brings 
in the night ! 



Our mother has loved. The god- 
dess of love has scattered flowers 
of fragrance ! " 

Kin-teotl 

"I, Kin-teotl, god of the grain, am 
as a flower — a flower ever renew- 



ing] 



Priest 



" Kin-teotl was born from the water, 
he came as a mortal, as a youth, 
from the cerulean home of the 
fishes, an ever new, glorious god! 

He shone as the sun; his mother 
dwelt in the House of the Dawn!" 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



THE PRAYER OF THE MAIZE 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



Kin-teotl 

"I come forth on the earth — even 
to the market place like a mortal 
— even I — great and glorious ! 

Be ye happy under the flower bush 
varied in hue as the quetzal bird; 
Listen to the quechol singing to 
the gods! Listen to the singing 
of the quechol along the river: — 
hear its flute along the river in 
the home of the reeds !" 

(The flutes sound the call of the birds 
as Kin-teotl disappears in the temple 
followed by the devotees) 

Priest 

"Ai! — would that my altar flowers 
would cease from dying! Our 
flesh is as flowers — even as flowers 
in the place of the flowers. 

She goes to the mart! As goddess 
they carry her to the mart! She 
speaks at Cholula — she startles 
my heart! She startles my heart! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
THE PRAYER OF THE MAIZE 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



"Ai! for joy the high priest is there 
at her shrine! Where merchants 
sell the ear rings of green jade, she 
is to be seen by men — in the 
Place of Wonders she is to be 
seen! 

Sleep, sleep, sleep! I fold my hands 
to sleep! 

1,0 Woman!— sleep!" 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
HYMN TO CIHUA-COATL 

(Mexican) 



(Cihua-coatI, mythic, mother of earth-born people) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



SERPENT Woman, plumed with 
eagle feathers, with the crest of 
eagles, comes, beating her drum, 
from the Place of the Old. 

She alone, who is our flesh, goddess 
of the fields and shrubs, is strong 
to support us. 

Our mother is as twelve eagles, god- 
dess of drums calling the gods, 
filling the fields. 

She is our mother — a goddess of war, 
our mother, a companion from 
the Home of Ancestors. 

She comes forth, she appears when 
war is waged, she protects us in 
war that we be not destroyed — 
an example and companion from 
the Home of the Ancestors. 

She comes adorned in the ancient 
manner with the eagle's crest, — 
in the ancient manner with the 
eagle's crest! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



PRAYER TO THE GOD OF 
THIEVES 

(South Pacific Island) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



OTHOU divine Outre-reter! 
We go out for plunder. 
Cause all things to sleep in the 

house. 
Owner of the house, sleep on ! 
Threshold of the house, sleep on ! 
Little insects of the house, sleep on! 
Central - post, ridge - pole, rafters, 

thatch of the house, sleep on! 
O Rongo, grant us success! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



INVOCATION TO ORMAZD 

(Persian) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



IN THE name of God, the giver, 
forgiver, rich in love, praise be 
to the name of Ormazd, the God 
with the name who always was, 
always is, and always will be; the 
heavenly among the heavenly, with 
the name — "From whom alone is 
derived rule." 

With all strength bring I thanks. 

All good do I accept at thy com- 
mand O God, and think, and speak, 
and do it. I believe in the pure 
law; by every good work seek I for- 
giveness for all sins. I keep pure 
the six powers — thought, speech, 
work, memory, mind and under- 
standing. According to thy will 
am I able to accomplish. O accom- 
plisher of good, thy honor, with 
good thoughts, good works. 

I enter on the shining way to 
Paradise; may the fearful terror of 



PAGAN PRAYERS 
INVOCATION TO ORMAZD 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



hell not overcome me ! May I step 
over the bridge Chinevat. May I 
attain Paradise with much perfume, 
and all brightness. 

Praise be to the Overseer, the 
Lord, who rewards those who ac- 
complish good deeds according to 
his own wish, and at last purifies 
even the wicked ones of hell. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



MOHAMMEDAN PRAYER OF 
ADORATION 

(Persian) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



SOUL of the Soul! 
Neither thought nor reason com- 
prehend thy essence, and no one 
knows thy attributes. 

Souls have no idea of thy being. 
The prophets themselves sink in 
the dust of thy road. 

Although intellect exists by thee, 
has it ever yet found the path of 
thy existence? 

thou, who art in the interior and 
in the exterior of the soul ! Thou 
art and thou art not that which 
I say. 

In thy presence reason grows dizzy; 
it loses the thread that would 
direct it in thy way. 

1 perceive clearly the universe in 
thee, and yet discover thee not 
in the world. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



MOHAMMEDAN PRAYER OF 
ADORATION 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



All beings are marked with thy im- 
press, but thyself hast no impress 
visible; 

Thou reservest the secret of thine 
existence. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



AN INCA'S DEATH PRAYER 

(Peruvian) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



O CREATOR of men 
Thy servant speaks. 
Then look on him 
The king of Cusco. 

Do not forget me 

thou noble creator. 

thou of my dreams. 

Dost thou forget 

And I on the point of death ? 

Wilt thou ignore my prayer 

Or wilt thou make known 

Who thou art ? 

Thou mayest be what I thought, 

Yet perchance thou art a phantom, 

A thing that causes fear. 

Oh, if I might know ! 

Oh, if it could be revealed ! 

Thou who made me out of earth, 

And of clay formed me. 

Oh look upon me ! 

Who art thou, O Creator? 

Now I am very old. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



HYMN TO THE UNKNOWN 
GOD 

(Peruvian) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



O RULER ! Lord of the universe, 
Whether thou art male, 
Whether thou art female, 
Lord of reproduction 
Wherever thou mayest be! 
O Lord of divination 
Where art thou ? 
Thou mayest be above, 
Thou mayest be below, 
Or perhaps around 
Thy splendid throne and sceptre. 
O hear me! 
From the sky above, 
In which thou mayest be, 
From the sea beneath 
In which thou mayest be. 
Creator of the world, 
Maker of all men; 
Lord of all Lords 
My eyes fail me for longing to see 

thee 
For the sole desire to know thee. 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



HYMN TO THE UNKNOWN 
GOD 

(Continued) 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



O look down upon me 

For thou knowest me. 

The sun — the moon — 

The day — the night — 

Spring — winter, 

Are not ordained in vain 

By thee, O Deity! 

They all travel 

To the assigned place; 

They all arrive 

At their destined ends 

Whithersoever thou pleasest. 

Thy royal sceptre 

Thou holdest. 

O hear me! 

O choose me! 

Let it not be 

That I should tire, 

That I should die! 



PAGAN PRAYERS 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Apache Prayer, from The North American 
Indian, by special permission of Edward 
S. Curtis. 

A partial list of the other scholars and 
works to whom the compiler is indebted: 

Daniel G. Brinton, Rig Veda Americana. 
Francoise Lenormant, La Magie chez les 

Chald/es. 
F. Max Muller, Physical Religion. 
Washington Matthews, Navajo Legends. 
Sir Clements Markham, Incas of Peru. 
Records of the Past. 
Bernardino de Sahagun, Historia de las cosas 

de la Nueva Espana. 
A. H. Sayce, Babylonian Exorcism. 
H. Fox Talbot, Biblical Archaeology. 
The Egyptian Book of the Dead. 
The Kalevala. 
The Zend Avesta. 



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